


Money Matters

by telperion_15



Category: Jurassic Park III (2001)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-17
Updated: 2011-06-17
Packaged: 2017-10-20 12:17:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/212698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alan's not a fan of these kind of events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Money Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the smallfandomfest prompt 'Alan/Billy, Alan and Billy attend a fundraiser together.'
> 
> Very minor spoilers for JP and JP3.

The third attempt had gone about as well as the first and second attempts, and with a sigh Alan gave up again, disentangling his fingers from his tie and letting the ends hang down from his collar, black fabric stark against the snowy white of his dress shirt.

Billy laughed. “Not having much luck, huh?”

Alan smiled ruefully. “I never could quite get the hang of these things.” Then he frowned, and flicked one of the ends of the tie with his fingers. “And for most of my life I’ve never really had to. Remind me why we’re doing this, again?”

“For the money, as always,” Billy replied, his eyes twinkling although his expression was serious. “We need the funding, remember?”

“But I’m no good with the money men,” Alan protested. “I can remember two distinct occasions where people who tried to offer me funding nearly died.”

“That was hardly your fault,” Billy said. “Did you _ask_ the T-Rex to try and eat Hammond? And Paul Kirby didn’t have any money to give you anyway, so it wouldn’t have mattered much if the raptors had got him.” He grinned mischievously.

“Be nice,” Alan chided, but then smiled back. “In any case, none of this changes the fact that I normally can’t talk to these people to save my life. And they’re going to be even more unimpressed if I turn up looking like I’ve only made half an effort because I can’t tie a damn bow tie!”

“Oh, come here, I’ll help you out,” Billy said.

He beckoned to Alan, and Alan went, suppressing a faint twinge of jealousy at the easy way Billy wore his suit. He seemed equally at home in formal attire _or_ his scruffy outdoor gear, whereas Alan definitely preferred the old jeans and faded shirts he could wear on digs. Any kind of smart clothing always felt too constricting to him.

Billy positioned Alan in front of the full-length mirror in their hotel room and then stood behind him, bringing his arms around in front to work on Alan’s tie.

“It always works best if I pretend it’s my own I’m fastening,” he murmured as he peered over Alan’s shoulder so he could see what he was doing in the mirror. His breath tickled Alan’s ear, and Alan did his best not to twitch.

He could feel the warmth of Billy’s body against his back all the way from his shoulder blades to his thighs. Billy wasn’t actually leaning against him (couldn’t have the suit getting crumpled after all), but it wouldn’t take much for him to achieve it.

“There you go, you’re all done.”

Alan realised that his attention had wandered, and from the look on the other man’s face, it was clear that Billy knew exactly _where_ it had wandered to. Alan silently cursed anew the obligations that meant they had to go downstairs and make nice with a bunch of people he barely had two words to say to.

“Come on,” said Billy. “Sooner we go, sooner we can charm the cash out of them, and the sooner we can leave.”

“I think I’ll leaving the ‘charming’ to you,” Alan said wryly.

“Oh, I don’t know, I think you could be pretty charming if you chose to be, Dr. Grant,” replied Billy, winking.

Rolling his eyes, but chuckling nonetheless, Alan followed Billy out of the room.

*~*~*~*~*

Surreptitiously, Alan watched Billy charming (there was really no other word for it) his way around the room, smiling and flirting a little with a lot of the women, and some of the men too.

Billy never seemed to find events like this much of an effort, managing to mingle and chat with everyone, always making a good impression.

Alan, on the other hand, found most of the people who frequented this kind of thing to be shallow and boring, and an absolute horror to talk to. He preferred to restrict himself to the older attendees, the ones who might actually have some kind of interest in palaeontology, and who he might actually be able to hold a halfway intelligent conversation with.

Even then, he had to remember he was talking to laymen, and millionaire laymen at that. They might be interested, and they might be happy to spend some of their millions on Alan’s ‘little digs’ (as one prospective source of funds had called them), but they weren’t experts. They weren’t colleagues. They weren’t _Billy_.

And they certainly weren’t the kind of people who would ever come and see what use their money was being put to firsthand, Alan thought to himself, as someone’s wife (he’d forgotten her name already) wrinkled her nose at his description of heat and dust and hours spent grubbing around in the dirt to uncover one tiny bone.

The wife’s someone laughed at her reaction, but Alan was having an equally hard time picturing _him_ in somewhere like the Montana Badlands. He might part with the cash, but not with his creature comforts, that was for sure.

“Excuse me, can I borrow Dr. Grant for a moment?” said a voice, and Alan turned to find Billy at his elbow.

Billy smiled quickly at the couple Alan had been talking to, and then led the way to the bar, where he put a glass of champagne in Alan’s hand.

“Something the matter?” Alan asked, taking a sip of champagne and wishing it was beer instead.

“Not really,” Billy replied. “Just that you looked like you were about to wring Mrs. Denton’s neck back there, and _she_ was looking at you like you were something nasty on the sole of her very expensive shoes.”

“Ah. Well in that case, thanks,” Alan said. He looked around and sighed. “How long before we can get out of here?”

“Got to endure dinner yet, sorry,” said Billy, grinning in an entirely unsympathetic way. “Just remember the money, Alan.”

“I’m not sure it’s worth it,” Alan grumbled, and then felt bad when Billy’s smile dimmed a little.

Billy was one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated assistants Alan had ever had, and Alan knew he pretty much lived to excavate. In fact, he rather reminded Alan of another young palaeontologist – he saw a lot of himself in Billy.

Alan had been becoming a little disillusioned with the whole life when Billy had come along. After the Jurassic Park debacle, he’d wondered if it was _all_ worth it any more. But Billy’s enthusiasm had fired his own again, as well as a lot more besides, and now Alan couldn’t imagine his life being any different.

And if he wanted his life to remain as it was now, they _did_ need the money. And that meant Alan need to make a bit more of an effort.

He drained the last of his champagne and squared his shoulders. “Come on, then,” he said. “Dinner it is. Although you’d better be sitting next to me. I can’t guarantee Mrs. Denton’s safety if you leave me alone with her.”

Billy’s grin was dazzling.


End file.
